CISCO feedback

[lvNortel]

I have been hearing that even though CISCO is very popular and the name that customers are asking for the customers end up with a lot of trouble using their equipment. I have never used CISCO other then their routers. What have you guys been hearing or what is your experience with the telecommunications hardware and software?

Thanks

"A phone is a phone and not a computer workstation".

 

[phoneguy610]

Spa phones suck, worst phones out there, they were linksys but just because they now say cisco on them people think they are good. They're not.

The sf500 switches are nice though, we use them in our ip phone deployments and they work nicely.

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/SyntelSolutions

ACIS

"Will work for stars

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Oh hey phoneguy610, you and I can agree on one thing, they Spa phones are awful, they are residential grade quality, and I've heard they have really bad dying problems. BTW, My IP Office comes next week, so hope you'll be patient with me as a I learn it. I will be trying a new Cisco set on the IP Office as well as UCx.

We know the Spa sets suck, the 7900 sets are starting to look dated....they are everywhere. They are a "safe" choice because of the large LCD screen and durability....but in my opinion they look a bit tired.

On the other hand, the 6900, 8900 and 9000 sets recently introduced from Cisco look quite nice.

I've been considering purchasing an "Arctic White" 8961 or 9951 Cisco set to use on the E-Metrotel UCx. Protocols: SCCP and SIP both work on the UCx, so I've been wrangling whether to spend $200 from ebay to get one of these sets for testing.

What do I like about these sets? They remind of the early 2000's when Nortel came out with the T Series phones. The platinum T Series phones looked especially impressive for use in a higher end boutique or salon. It's great that Cisco has resurrected this color with an ever "whiter" platinum, called arctic white on their platform. A few other features:
-dedicated RLS button on the 8961, 9951, and 9971 set. Too bad they don't have them on ALL Cisco sets.
-large Nortel styled Icon based feature keys
-lightweight sleek handset
-large Color Screen and unique screen styles to choose from
-customizable ring tones
-ergonomic sleek shape that would look good in any office

I can't really comment on the feature function on these sets, but if they are anything like the 7970 SIP I have on my UCx50 or the 7940 Skinny SCCP client my counterpart (from Two Guys and their phones blog, Justin) has on his UCx50 system, these phones are highly customizable.

I've actually had great luck with my 7970 and placing Nortel Ring tones on these phones, so the phone functions almost identically to a Nortel IP set, minus the Cisco label on the phone. I've programmed the button labels to actually read like that of the Nortel sets.

see the following link for the Nortel rings on the Cisco phone.....hopefully it will bring a smile to both of your faces:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac5nbujlpQA

Cheers

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[phoneguy610]

I think aastra all the way.. Ps aastra used to make the nortel phones

Check out the new polycom vvx400 we just got one in our office. Haven't gotten it working yet but they are inexpensive and fantastic looking. Can't wait to get them running I think they will sell quickly

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/SyntelSolutions

ACIS

"Will work for stars

 

[phoneguy610]

And my advice with the ip office is use it's native sets

You can take advantage of more features this way

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/SyntelSolutions

ACIS

"Will work for stars

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Yeah I kind of interested in trying the Nortel SIP sets and see how that feature button works.

The vvx400 looks really cool. Does it allow you to upload wav files for your own ringtones?

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[lvNortel]

my in-house IP Office test system is coming in next week as well. What do you guys think of the 5420 sets I have seen these at at Home Depot.

"A phone is a phone and not a computer workstation".

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Hey LV, the 5420 are definitely workhorses. I am personally a fan of the 1400 and 9600 sets because of the backlit displays....but for the value of the 5420, they are good.

Side note, the Home Depot here in my hood in the South Loop Chicago just upgraded their Avaya switch to a Cisco switch, with 7945 and 7965 IP sets. I guess they are moving away from Avaya.


"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

I really want to get my hands on one of these:

http://www.tammex.com.au/store/cisco-8961-unified-ip-endpoint-white-cp-8961-w-k9-p-23230.html

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[lvNortel]

one of the problems with any of these newer style hand sets that are angled up high as the buttons are pushed they tend to inches backwards

"A phone is a phone and not a computer workstation".

 

[Splic3d]

We have taken over a few Cisco systems and replaced with Asterisk systems reusing the Cisco phones,with good results. The main reason they changed was due to the quality of the voice and ease of use of the phones. Most problems they had where due to poor setup by the vendor that sold them the product. I have found that if the Cisco system is install by a qualified Cisco tech they work just fine, but some customers don't want to pay for the service contracts or think they can install them on their own.
If you install a good product and really support it with techs that know the product well and they have a good support system with the manufactures and suppliers, you will have customers that will be loyal for years.

http://www.i3techgroup.com

Avaya/Nortel/NEC/Asterisk/Access Control/CCTV/DSX/Acti/UCx

 

[GordonKapesMZ4]

Has anyone been successful at using a 6900, 8900, or 9900 set on Asterisk?

"Keep the Peace, Use RLS"

http://www.joetheucxguy.com

 

[phoneguy610]

my experience with the spas is that the polycoms and aastras are far superior

ddcommllc.com
Avaya/Toshiba/SyntelSolutions

ACIS

"Will work for stars

 

[intrigrant]

Hey, you only talk about handsets, what about features and ease of use of the cisco platform and how about maintenance?

A simple mind delivers great solutions

 

[lvNortel]

The handsets are what the customers use. The whole purpose behind a PHONE system is the PHONE.
If they are not happy with the handsets then what is the purpose of anything else.

"A phone is a phone and not a computer workstation".

 

[mforrence]

The handsets are what the customers use. The whole purpose behind a PHONE system is the PHONE.
If they are not happy with the handsets then what is the purpose of anything else.

While this is true, the phone will only do what the underlying system controls allow. In the classic Avaya world, it is much like putting a Partner ACS phone on a Merlin Magix. Same phone but operation is quite different. Or a Norstar phone on IP Office. Same phone, different operation (although Avaya went to significant lengths to ease the change).

 

[Sympology]

what about features and ease of use of the cisco platform and how about maintenance"

Features?
99% you will never use. They may browse the web for a day, or check the current stocks and shares for 10 mins, but once they get bored of shiney things, they will just use it to make and receive calls.
Ease of use? End user or maintainer?
For end user, if it's more complex than picking up and dialling / receiving, then they won't bother. Call forwarding / VM should be easy to get to and that's about it. I used a 5 year old Cisco system and it was dog of a system to use, just so clunky and almost seemed to go out of it's way to be unfriendly as possible.
Maintenace?
Well it's Cisco, so expect to pay.

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[jeffmoss26]

We went from a 3Com NBX to a Cisco Call Manager system last year. It runs on 2 UCS C200M2 servers with a 2911 router for PRI and paging.
From the administration side, it takes longer to add/change phones, voicemail boxes, etc. For the users it's about the same. They are using 7942 phones, managers have 8961 phones, and we have a few 6901 phones in the shop.

jeff moss

 

[intrigrant]

You van have a beautiful secretary but if she doesn't do her work properly then you'll soon want another secretary.
It is about time Apple designs a phone system. Beatiful hardware and smart software without the ability to call payed fun services.

A simple mind delivers great solutions

 

[jpm121]

The downside of the Apple phone system is every 2 years you have to forklift replace the entire thing, including handsets, and run all new cabling in your building every 3 refresh cycles.